??As Case Keenum convened the Minnesota huddle with 10 seconds left
Authentic Brian Allen Jersey , the situation staring down the Vikings was as simple as it was daunting.With the go-ahead field goal by the New Orleans Saints
that silenced this deafening stadium still fresh in the air, the Vikings were
well beyond any moment of anxiety. All that was left for Keenum to do on that
last snap was to throw the ball up like he used to do in his Texas backyards and
hope for the best.Keenum completed his last-ditch heave near the sideline Sunday
on the game’s final play to Stefon Diggs, who slithered away from the Saints for
a 61-yard touchdown to give the Vikings a 29-24 victory and a spot in the NFC
championship game at Philadelphia.“At that point, I’m just a kid throwing a
football to another big kid,” Keenum said with a smile, “and he just runs and
scores.”One more win, against the Eagles, and the Vikings will become the first
team to play in a Super Bowl on their home turf. Instead of the usual
win-or-go-home stakes, they’re in a win-and-go-home situation.“It never ends
that way,” Diggs said. “Usually, it’s reality. It’s life. So things go and you
walk home and worry it about tomorrow.”Instead, Drew Brees and the Saints were
the ones trudging off the field in defeat.“We’re still a bit shell-shocked after
what happened there at the end,” said Brees, who steered the Saints in position
for Wil Lutz’s 43-yard kick with 25 seconds remaining that punctuating a
forceful rally from a 17-point deficit that stood until 1:16 was left in the
third quarter.The field goal was set up by a fourth-and-10 completion by Brees
to Willie Snead for 13 yards to the Minnesota 33 with 40 seconds left. Brees
connected with Michael Thomas for two of his three touchdown passes in a span of
3:09 that spilled into the fourth quarter. The second score was set up at the
Minnesota 40 by an interception by Marcus Williams, when an off-balance throw
into traffic by Keenum served as his one costly moment of
recklessness
Cheap Donte Jackson Jersey , a “bonehead play,” as he put it.Keenum settled back in. He guided the Vikings to two more field goals by Kai Forbath, including
a 53-yarder with 1:29 left that was his third of the game against his former
team and gave them their lead back after a blocked punt by George Johnson had
set up the Saints for a touchdown pass by Brees to Alvin Kamara.Then came the
play that put Keenum and Diggs in permanent rotation on the NFL’s all-time
highlight reels.“We knew there was still a possibility, still some hope,” Keenum
said.This wasn’t quite Franco Harris and the Immaculate Reception for the
Pittsburgh Steelers in the 1972 playoffs, but these Vikings are on some kind of
special path after turning to Keenum in the second game of the season after
original starter Sam Bradford was sidelined by a knee injury.The Vikings were
out of timeouts and nearly out of options when Keenum dropped back from his 39
and threw high into a crowd. Diggs jumped in front of Williams, who rolled
awkwardly underneath Diggs during an ill-fated attempt at making a low
tackle.Devastatingly for the Saints, nobody was behind him in the secondary, as
Diggs made sure to note right before he made the break on his route during the
play the Vikings, believe it or not, call “Seven Heaven.”Diggs kept his balance
as he landed, kept his feet in bounds and kept on running untouched into the end
zone as the crowd at U.S. Bank Stadium erupted with euphoria. Keenum raced
around the field, looking for anyone to hug.“I’m shocked. I don’t know what else
to say. This is the first time ever I’m out of words,” Vikings defensive end
Everson Griffen said.Keenum, the undrafted and undersized all-time leading
passer in NCAA history who was making his first career playoff start and has
long looked up to Brees
Mike McGlinchey Youth Jersey , was having a hard time finding the words to describe the experience. He finished with 318 yards, going 25 for 40, with
Diggs catching 137 yards on six catches.“A heck of a game, wasn’t it?” head
coach Mike Zimmer said. “And the good guys won.”Diggs was still in full uniform
when he took the podium for his postgame interview, the ball from the winning
catch resting safely in front of him on the lectern.“It’s plays like this that
you dream about your whole life,” he said, “and it finally happens.”PICKED
OFFBrees saw his 13th career postseason game end in a crushing final moment, his
25-for-40 performance for 294 yards tainted a bit by two interceptions before
halftime. One came on a leaping grab by safety Andrew Sendejo , the other off a
tip by Griffen that landed in Anthony Barr’s arms at the Minnesota 10-yard line
midway through the third quarter.FIRST-HALF FORCEThe Vikings came roaring out of
their first-round bye, forcing punts by the Saints on their first three
possessions and moving 55 yards in eight plays for a touchdown run by Jerick
McKinnon on their first drive. Aided by two pass interference calls on Ken
Crawley for 54 yards, the Vikings reached the 1-yard line before settling for a
short field goal on the next possession. They pushed the lead to 17-0 early in
the second quarter when Latavius Murray plowed in from the 1-yard line.“The
Vikings had a phenomenal game plan,” Saints defensive end Cameron Jordan
said.The only other time the Saints went scoreless in the first half of a
postseason game was five years ago. They fell behind 16-0 at Seattle in the
divisional round and lost 23-15 to the eventual Super Bowl champions.SENDEJO
DOWNThe first touchdown to Thomas came one play after he leveled Sendejo with a
jarring blindside block, sending Sendejo to the sideline for concussion
evaluation and reigniting the crowd when the flag that was initially thrown was
waved off.UP NEXTSaints: head home with a 1-5 record on the road in the p
Doctors told Adrian Clayborn not to play football.
His mother decided it was safer than letting him hang out on the streets.The free agent defensive end, who signed with the defending AFC champion New England Patriots last week, developed a condition called Erb's palsy when the
nerves in his neck were stretched during childbirth. The damage affects the
right side of his body ??his neck Cheap Shaquem Griffin Jersey , his bicep and his trapezius muscle ??and forces him to work out differently, but doesn't change his play, he said."I've learned to compensate when I have to," Clayborn said in a conference call on Wednesday. "And I do what I've got to do to make the plays."Clayborn, 29, wrote on The Players' Tribune that because of the condition doctors told his mother not to let him play football. But she relented after his
older brother was shot and killed.He also spent most of two seasons on injured reserve, with a popped bicep in the NFC championship game after the 2016 season that had him contemplating
retirement.Instead, he pushed forward."Life happens," Clayborn told reporters. "I mean, through the Erb's Palsy or losing my dad and my brother ??it just made me the person I am today. Just got
to take the blows when they come and throw a couple back at times. So, just
learn how to fight and scrap and learn how to keep going."A seven-year veteran who played the past three seasons with Atlanta, Clayborn is coming off a career-high 9? sacks in 2017. Although he played mostly on third
down and other pass-rushing situations with the Falcons, he said he could take
on a bigger role if the Patriots ask him to."That's what people have pigeonholed me in as a third-down player, but I know I can play first, second Cheap Michael Gallup Jersey , third down if need be," he said. "That was my role in Atlanta because that's what they asked me to do, but I mean, I can
play all three downs if you ask me."Although he was on the 2016 Falcons team, he was injured early in the conference title game and missed the Super Bowl, when New England rallied from a
25-point, second-half deficit."It was tough to watch, being hurt," Clayborn said. "I don't know if I could have made an impact. I would hope so. I mean, that's my job to do every game, so
I would hope I would have been able to make an impact in that game and possibly
a different outcome.".
